WonderPhone: Downtown Dallas

The WonderPhones are a series of interactive payphones that connect the people in Downtown Dallas to the city and each other. The team has combined old and new technology to allow people to listen to content and play and record their stories. Three phones are located in colorful enclosures in semi-premanent locations Downtown, and two mobile phones will be popping-up at various location throughout the month.

The WonderPhone team has worked with local high school students, architects, historians, designers, urban planners, musicians and essayists to create and record engaging Dallas- or phone-related content for participants to enjoy. Audio content includes personal stories of downtown, future imaginings of new possibilities for Downtown, and newly created pieces that focus on the history and architecture of Downtown Dallas. Interactive prompts ask participants to share reactions to specific questions (and hear responses live) as well as follow instructions to participate in immersive experiences exploring downtown.

We hope that the WonderPhone will inspire participants to listen and think deeply about the lived experiences of the citizens of Downtown Dallas as well as engage participants in activities to help them observe Dallas in a new light and reflect on their own participation in the city.

Color Canopy

The Color Canopy is an early exploration into the concept of adapting outdoor urban spaces with minimal materials that allow for a place to be define. The space "above us" in outdoor environments is often underutilized as a place to add shelter, way-finding, and delightful discovery in our cities.

Following the success of the Crowdus Street Design Competition, Design Future Dallas, the Deep Ellum Foundation, Gensler, and Studio Outside worked together to test their ideas for the future of Crowdus street.

The project is called Reimagine Crowdus, and for the entire month of September in 2016, the street was closed to cars and become a prototype of a pedestrian only public space in the heart of Deep Ellum.

Golden Pillow

The Golden Pillow is an 7'x13' gold mylar ballon designed for the FD17 event in Dallas, Texas. FD17 Video Here

The Balloon was created in collaboration with Rickey Crum

The Balloon is a public art installation that looks at how a sense of place can be created in large outdoor urban spaces. The dynamic nature of the material and its presence in the environment challenges what we traditional think of as urban space, allowing for a place for people to sit, play, and interact as if it were a "room" outdoors.

The Balloon is partially filled with helium to keep it afloat as it interacts with the light and wind to create a dynamic spatial sculpture. The Ballon's presence change dramatically between day and night.